Sprungl re-elected; Props 1, 2 & 3 defeated
<p>Pete Glindeman casts his ballot and receives his "I Voted" sticker from election worker Charlotte Kothe.</p> <p> </p>
BONNERS FERRY — In the contested race for county sheriff, Greg Sprungl won by a wide margin.
Of the candidates for sheriff, Sprungl received 2,483 votes, Gary Leonard 1,460 and write-in Jeff Ennis received 420 votes.
Sprungl was unavailable for comment Wednesday as he was involved with transporting a prisoner to another facility, according to dispatch.
Voters in Boundary County turned out in good numbers on election day, with 77 percent of voters casting ballots. In the unofficial results, 4,686 of 6,114 registered voters voted. More than 1,200 voters voted by absentee ballots.
Boundary County voters preferred presidential candidate Mitt Romney (3,138 votes) over President Obama (1,225 votes).
Nationwide, Obama won re-election, making him the second Democrat to win a second term since World War II.
However, the president won by a narrower popular vote and electoral college margin than in the previous election.
In Congress, the Democrats have 53 seats in the Senate to the Republicans 45, while the House Republicans held onto control.
The country is gearing up for a possible fiscal battle as tax cuts are set to sunset at the end of the year.
Boundary County mirrored statewide voters with 69 percent voting for Romney in the county and 65 percent in the state, to Obama’s 33 percent.
Likewise, Boundary County voters re-elected Republican Raul Labrador for the District 1 Senate seat by a wide margin for Idaho’s representative in Congress. Labrador won statewide with 63 percent of the vote, while Mike Simpson won the District 2 seat by a 65-percent margin.
In Boundary County, Labrador received 2,603 votes, Jimmy Farris 958 votes, Rob Oates 156 votes and Pro-Life 110 votes. Statewide, Labrador received 63.29 percent of the vote and in the county 68 percent.
STATEWIDE ISSUES
The controversial Propositions 1, 2 and 3 were all rejected by Idaho voters.
Boundary County voters opposed all three propositions. (See related story page A-2).
Proposition 1 received 2,430 no votes (53.8 percent) and 2,084 yes votes (46.2 percent). Proposition 2 received 2,502 no votes (55.4 percent) and 2,013 yes votes (44.6 percent).
Proposition 3 received 2,976 no votes (65.8 percent) and 1,548 yes votes (34.2 percent). The majority of all precincts in the county opposed the propositions. More than 96 percent of voters in Boundary County voted on the propositions.
Boundary County voters were in favor of the two amendments.
On SJR 102, the county probation services amendment, Boundary County voted 69.6 percent in favor and 30.4 percent against.
The measure also passed statewide with a 74 percent approval rating.
On HJR 2aa, the right to fish, hunt and trap, Boundary County voted 75.8 percent in favor and 24.2 percent against. Statewide, the measure passed with 73 percent of voters saying yes.
Running unopposed, Sen. Shawn Keough received 3,784 votes, Rep. George Eskridge received 3,474 votes, Commissioner 1st District Lee Pinkerton received 3,469 votes, Dan R. Dinning (the incumbent) received 3,479 votes for 3rd District commissioner and prosecuting attorney John “Jack” Douglas received 3,296 votes.
Running opposed, Rep. Eric Anderson (Position 1A) received 3,139 votes against candidate Andrew Sorg who received 1,005 votes. Overall, Anderson received 13,334 votes to Sorg’s 5,470.
Anderson received 71 percent of the vote.
—The Associated Press contributed to this report.